I feel like every time I write about Kaweco lately, I'm talking about the newest awesome and unique innovation that they've brought to the writing table. Today is another one of those days. The Supra is one of Kaweco's newest fountain pen designs, and what makes it unique is it includes a removable 3cm midsection which allows you to change the length of the pen on the fly - taking it from a full-size pen to a pocket pen in just a few seconds. This is such a neat feature, and something I've not seen with other pens.The pen is the big brother of the Kaweco Liliput; and if you weren't a fan of that pen because it was just too small, this might be your answer to that. It's made of brass, so it has some decent weight to it (around 49g with the extension and 37g without). There is a step down on the barrel from the extension to the back end piece of the pen, but I don't think it takes away from the sleek design, and your hands shouldn't ever come into contact with that during writing. The section is a tapered and flared design, and it's size is very similar to that of the Kaweco brass sport (and other Sport pens). Being that it's a metal pen, the threads are a tad sharper than you'd experience on a plastic or resin pen, but I didn't find them to be uncomfortable. Like the Liliput, the cap has the 3-syllable Kaweco logo on the top, with the Kaweco name in script and pen name on the upper half of the side of the cap.

Another thing that differentiates this pen from most of Kaweco's others is it's nib. The Supra comes with a large #6 nib, and it's a beauty. The nib really sets it apart, and I didn't have an issue with the pen at all until I started writing. I typically use F nibs but wanted to give a Kaweco Medium a try, and this one unfortunately suffered from a pretty severe case of baby's bottom. I would get a skip at the beginning of each stroke, and at faster writing speeds that carried on throughout the sentence. It's an incredibly smooth nib (as is the case with a lot of baby's bottom nibs), and I enjoyed the pen so much that I wasn't ready to give up on it. I spent some time doing some minor smoothing on some micro mesh, and it writes like a dream. It is unfortunate how frequently this does happen with Kaweco's nibs - not sure if it's a Bock issue, or if they're tuned at Kaweco before they're sent out.

Nib out of the box - just a tad misaligned

A bit out of focus, but, the nib after alignment. You can see the gap that is likely causing the flow issues.

Underside of the nib

Top side of t he nib

Compared to other pocket pens, Supra stacks up nicely against pens like the TWSBI Mini. At its full size, the Supra is a tad longer than the Mini, but in it's pocket form it's shorter. Of course it's heavier being that it's brass, but the size is nice. I also compared it to the Pocket 40 from Franklin Christoph, and without its extension, it's shorter than that pen capped, and a tad longer posted. The pen has a great balance in the hand, both at its full size (unposted for my preferences), and in it's pocket size, posted. I don't care too much for posting it at full size because at that point it becomes almost an oversized pen, but at the same time I don't post any of my full size pens. If you post regularly, then the length is probably something you're used to

Capped, with extension

Capped, without extension

Posted, without extension

Writing issues aside (which I was fortunately able to remedy), I am a huge fan of this pen. The removable extension is absolutely brilliant, and Kaweco continues to come up with awesome ideas for their customers. I would love to see them come out with other finishes/materials for this pen, as I think it will only increase the appeal (fireblue, anyone?). I do also think it should come with a converter, especially at this price. Speaking of, the price seems to vary pretty drastically between the US and Europe - I've seen listings at most US sellers for $140, and some European sites for around €95 (little over $100). So if you're interested, a non-US seller may be your best option. I can't recommend this pen enough!

(Kaweco has provided this product at no charge to The Desk for the purpose of review. My opinions are honest and without bias - visit the About Me page for more details).